The Son of the Wind
by Vicc125
Summary: As a son of the Minor God Boreas, Daniel Gran had assumed that real adventure would never come to him. But right in the middle of a seemingly normal visit by the Romans, a new prophecy is uttered. Partnered with cheery Will Solace, and led by the strict Praetor, Reyna Ramírez-Arellano herself, Dan must embark on a quest to save the very winds themselves.
1. Daniel Really Isn't Excited For Anything

**Daniel Really Isn't Excited… For Anything**

 **Daniel**

It was an awkward looking cabin, Daniel thought. It was made of thick oak logs, painted white, with a glass door that anyone could see through. At the base of the cabin and on either side of the door, there were two sculptures made of scrap metal, meant, Daniel assumed, to resemble gusts of wind.

In reality, they just looked like oversized cheese graters.

"Well, at least we're finally out of the Hermes cabin, right?"

The voice was quiet and feminine, and belonged to a small blonde girl with eyes the color of the azure sky. She was no older than thirteen, and was clutching a purple backpack to her chest, as she looked up at another camper, with the same colored eyes.

His hair was a deep onyx, and he was tall and lanky, with dark tanned skin. Like Lucile, and Daniel himself, his eyes mirrored the color of the sky above. In his simple Camp Half-Blood shirt, he looked rather unassuming. Behind him were a few duffel bags, packed with all his belongings from the Hermes Cabin the three of them had shared until recently.

"Yeah, and look on the brightside Lucile, it'll just be the three of us this time. We don't have to deal with all those Hermes kids anymore."

Gregory, that was the other boy's name, made a really good point. Daniel had spent the last four years in the Hermes cabin, and while the Hermes campers themselves were fun, they were also prone to doing stupid things to the other campers, which of course, would result in retaliation. At the moment, the Hermes cabin was riddled with over a hundred arrows, all enchanted to make the most annoying noises at completely random times. Like "mooing" at midnight, or making a farting noise in the middle of a serious conversation.

And that was why Daniel would never, ever, help prank the Apollo or Hecate campers again.

Honestly, the three of them had gotten out of the Hermes cabin at the best time. The newly built Boreas cabin might not have been the prettiest thing in the world, but it was a home. After four years, Daniel finally had a place in Camp Half-Blood where he could honestly say he belonged.

He only wished the responsibility of being head counselor hadn't come along with it. Unfortunately, at sixteen, he was the oldest child of Boreas, God of the Northern Winds, and that meant that Greg and Lucile were now his responsibility, rather than the Stoll's.

"Alright campers," Dan finally spoke, "we've only got a little bit of time before the Romans get here, so let's get unpacked and head over to the amphitheater. Jason wants everyone there so he can go over the ground rules for their visit."

"Why do we need to be there?" Gregory asked with a frown, "they've visited plenty of times before, and we've never screwed anything up."

Dan opened the glass door to Cabin Twenty-One, and turned back to his younger brother, "I think it's just a precaution. We don't want another fight between the Ares cabin and the Third Cohort, or anything similar."

"I still feel bad for the satyrs that got caught in the crossfire," Gregory muttered, "it took weeks for their fur to grow back.."

Dan chuckled a little, and threw his bags on one of the four beds that lined the back wall. He unzipped the largest bag, a duffel like one of Gregory's, and began to pull out his jeans. He picked up the new pile of denim, and turned to set them on the dresser at the foot of his new bed.

That's when he saw Lucile, fiddling with her fingers, her nervous tick. She was sat on the bed in the far left corner, with her brows furrowed.

"Lucile," Dan said, and she turned to face him, "what is it?"

She looked back down at her fingers, "um, are the Romans mean?"

Dan and Gregory turned to look at each other and grimaced. Lucile had only been at Camp Half-Blood for a week; she'd arrived at the start of Winter break with most of the campers. Which meant that, unlike Dan and Greg, who'd been around for years, she'd never actually met (or almost went to war with) the Romans. And here they were making jokes about how they _injured_ people.

Dan was the first to speak, "I wouldn't say they're mean. They're just… a lot more strict than us Greeks, and a bit more prideful as well. But you don't have to worry about them."

"Yeah," Gregory chimed in, "just… you know how we told you to act around the Ares campers? Just act like that, and everything will be just fine."

Lucile didn't look entirely convinced, but she went back to unpacking, which was a step in the right direction. Daniel lifted an eyebrow as she pulled out a pink blanket, one he hadn't seen before. He opened his mouth to rib her a bit, but managed to stop himself before he could actually say anything. She was clearly still anxious about the Romans. Now wasn't the best time to tease her.

Daniel finished packing his things into the dresser near his bed, which, much to his surprise, was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Though, Dan knew it really shouldn't have surprised him at all; he had a backpack that did the same thing. Still, it was nice to know that Malcolm over in the Athena cabin had the forethought to think of such a useful trick. The cabin was no Annabeth masterpiece, but the guy had definitely forged something worthy of being called home.

Dan had just finished brushing his brown hair in the mirror, when Greg tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to face his brother, who motioned at the door. It seemed his siblings were outpacing him; they were already ready to head to the amphitheater.

"Go ahead, I'll meet you guys there."

Greg just shrugged, and walked out the glass door. Once he was out of earshot, Daniel let out a pathetic groan. He didn't want to look unenthusiatic in front of his siblings, but Dan was in no way excited for the Roman's arrival. Having the Romans in the camp meant that there would be competitions, and a lot of them. Dan already knew that tonight the Greek campers would take on the Twelfth Legion in a game of Capture the Flag, and as a senior camper and (by his own standards) a competent swordsman, he'd be expected to join in.

Dan hated War Games. They were too much work.

And maybe, just maybe, they reminded him too much of The Battle of Manhattan.

With a sigh, Daniel grabbed his grey hoodie out of the dresser, and threw it on over his orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, before zipping it up. The magical boundaries around the camp might keep the snow from falling, but it didn't keep the cold air out. Next, knowing the looks he'd get if he didn't bring a weapon, Dan reached into his black backpack. He had to dig around in it for a second, as the dimensions on the inside were four times that of a normal backpack, but after his hand found its grip on the leather, Daniel pulled his weapon out of the "hammer space," as the Hephaestus kids called it.

The blade, like the backpack, had been forged by the Hephaestus cabin. He'd requested it specially made, as it wasn't a typical Greek or Roman weapon. The sword itself weighed roughly four pounds, with a celestial bronze blade of a width one and three-fourths of an inch, that tapered down to one and one-fourth of an inch, while being thirty five inches in length. The hilt was crafted from oak wood, and wrapped in black leather, and was molded to fit two hands.

The sword, which Dan had taken to calling _Kidemónas_ (Guardian) in private, was effectively a Thirteenth Century hand-and-a-half sword, forged to be fit for a demigod. Wearing the blade on his back (no, he wasn't about to stab himself in the shoulder, he'd been training for years) always managed to garner a few odd looks, which Daniel never understood. There were campers who used things like grappling hooks and rakes for weapons! His sword wasn't that out of place!

Unless it was being judged by Roman standards, in which anything that wasn't uniform was out of the ordinary. Dan knew more than one legionnaire would likely scowl at his blade. Just another thing he wasn't excited for.

With one final sigh, Daniel brought the sheath over his right shoulder, and tightened the black strap. He needed to get going; it wouldn't look good for him if he managed to be late to his first ever gathering as a head counselor. Connor and Travis would never let him live it down, and he feared the look he might get from campers like Annabeth and Sherman. That was enough to get his butt in gear. The next few days might suck, but they were sure to suck worse if he pissed off his fellow head counselors.

He took one last look at himself in the mirror, before pushing out the door.


	2. Please Don't Set The Satyrs On Fire

" **Please Don't Set the Satyrs on Fire"**

 **Daniel**

The Amphitheater had been packed long before their visitors had strolled through the barrier, but now with Greek and Roman demigods alike taking up the stone benches, Daniel was sure that they were breaking some sort of fire code.

Then again, the Hephaestus kids did that on the daily.

Daniel sat on a bench in the first row of the amphitheater, situated right at the center of the stage, with all of the other head counselors at camp. He was squished between Will Solace, the lanky blonde son of Apollo, and a sleeping Clovis, the son of Hypnos. Dan rested his chin in his hand while he waited for everyone to finish filing into their seats. His eyes drifted about restlessly, from the whispering faces of Nico di Angelo and Will, to the four demigods standing on the stage in front of them.

Three of the demigods, two guys and one girl, wore the typical orange t-shirt that all campers at Camp Half-Blood wore. The first of the two guys was the tallest, and had blonde hair and electric blue eyes. Just about everyone in camp knew who he was; Jason, the Son of Zeus (well, technically Jupiter, but Dan preferred to call them by their Greek names regardless). He was something of the new defacto leader of Camp Half-Blood, a role he took over from the son of Poseidon standing beside him.

Percy Jackson, with his dark unkempt hair and sea green eyes, was by far the most laid back of the two. It was a personality trait that typically put whoever he met at ease, at least until the snark began to slip out with his words. The two boys were chuckling over something Jason had said, but they were too quiet for Dan to hear.

The two girls, on the other hand, looked to be annoyed by the looks on their faces. The Greek of the two girls, Annabeth Chase, was a demigod that campers both revered and feared. It probably had something to do with the fact that she'd helped save the world twice, and that her storm grey eyes could bore a hole through your head, if you were unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of one of her glares.

The other girl, definitely Roman by the purple toga and Imperial gold armor she wore, actually managed to make Daniel feel more uneasy than Annabeth ever could. She had a face that was of hispanic descent, with hair the color of stygian iron braided down her back, and eyes that seemed even darker. He might have been Greek, but even Dan knew that she was none other than Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. Everything about her, even her posture, seemed to say, _I stand above all of you_ , and Daniel wasn't sure if he found that oddly alluring, or incredibly intimidating.

With the way her eyes scanned the assembled demigods with scrutiny, he figured the latter was more appropriate.

It wasn't until she locked eyes with him, that Daniel realized that he'd been staring at her. Her brow furrowed, and the Praetor was clearly displeased that his eyes had locked with hers. Panic began to well into Dan's throat as the leader of the Roman camp looked straight through him, as if he were made of some sort of flimsy paper. He wanted to look away; to avert his gaze and pretend that he'd never been staring in the first place, but instead the foolish son of Boreas only frowned back.

"What are you doing?" came the half whisper, half shout of Will Solace.

Without tearing his gaze away from the Roman, he whispered back, "Dude, I have no clue, help me!"

Dan wasn't sure how, but Reyna's gaze became even more intense. Like as if she were a wolf, and he a deer, and she'd just cornered him.

"Look away," Will advised, "just look away!"

Daniel, against his better judgement, did not look away. Instead, he held Reyna's gaze with his own, almost challenging her. To what, he didn't know, but he knew that the Romans respected strength, and he had the feeling that looking away would be akin to telling the Praetor, _oh it's alright, go ahead and crush me under your heel._ And Daniel was not a masochist, despite the fact that every fiber of his being seemed intent to prove otherwise, by engaging the freaking Praetor of New Rome in some kind of weird staring contest.

Dan wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to hold her stare, but he never got the chance to find out, as an elbow crashed into his temple. He let out a quiet curse, and rubbed the side of his head, as he turned to look over at the son of Apollo who'd struck him. Daniel shook his head at the blonde boy, and a visage of mixed confusion and curiosity crossed his face.

Will only shrugged his shoulders, "You told me to help."

Dan wanted to retort, but before he could, Jason began to shush the crowd.

"Alright, hey, I think it's time we got this thing started. Sooner we finish up here, the sooner you guys get to start trying to kill each other!"

He was obviously trying for a joke, and referencing the game of Capture the Flag scheduled after dinner, but Annabeth and Reyna just groaned. The majority of the rest of the demigods in the amphitheater, including Percy and Dan himself, let out laughs that echoed off of the stone benches and the stage.

"First off," Jason continued with a light chuckle at his own joke, "let me officially welcome the Twelfth Legion, and their Praetor, Reyna, to Camp Half-Blood. We're honored to have you here."

A mixture of shouts and claps emanated from the audience, from both Greek and Roman demigods.

Reyna spoke up in response next, "and let me be the first to thank the Greek demigods for their hospitality, and their kindness, on behalf of the Twelfth Legion. My only regret is that my colleague, Frank Zhang, couldn't be here to offer his gratitude in person; he chose to remain in New Rome to deal with some matters of the Senate."

What those "matters" were, the Praetor didn't elaborate on. But knowing how Roman bureaucracy worked backin the day, Daniel was sure it was something boring like zoning rights. Maybe UC Berkeley was getting a new McDonalds.

"But before we kick things off," Jason picked back up, after giving a nod to Reyna, "let's establish a few ground rules for both the Roman and Greek campers. If you're gonna fight, do it either in the arena, or in the middle of Capture the Flag. This goes for archers too; the archery range is meant for practice on nonliving targets! If you wanna shoot each other, do it in the appropriate locations!"

This got a few murmurs from the Roman demigods, oddly enough, as if they'd been expecting that they could just go at it in the dinning pavilion or something.

"If you wanna challenge each other to a race up the climbing wall, then by all means, go ahead! But there are no weapons allowed! Fist and kicks are fine though. Just make sure you don't stand around in the lava for too long."

Dan found himself chuckling a little at that one, as did some of the Greeks around him. Tackling other demigods off of the wall was a common occurrence, and one that usually ended with both parties being laid up in the infirmary for days.

"Also, please don't harass the satyrs or the nymphs if you're just looking for more bodies for a fight. Seriously, some of those satyrs involved in the last fight are still bald from the waist down. It's not a pretty sight, guys."

"No, seriously," Percy butted in, with his eyes opened wide with horror, "please don't burn off their fur again. They nearly stampeded through the camp last time, and satyrs aren't even violent for the most part. Just… just leave the satyrs alone."

A smile crossed Jason's face, if only briefly, "alright with that said, we'll cut you loose. Just remember, Capture the Flag is tonight, after dinner! And," Jason eyes looked down to scan across Daniel and the other head counselors, "head counselors, and centurions, if you guys would stay behind for a few minutes, there are some other things we'd like to discuss with you."

With that said, the massive cluster of demigods began to excuse themselves, and exit the ampitheatre in a wave of orange and purple t-shirts. The head counselors all stood up and spaced themselves out a little, with some standing and some remaining on the benches. While they waited for the rest of the campers to file out, Daniel approached the stage and looked up at Jason.

"Find that a little nerve wracking, _Pontifex?"_

The son of Jupiter gave off a small "hah," before sitting down and draping his legs of the stage, "you have no idea. I don't know how I used to do this stuff as Praetor. The whole audience seemed like a bunch of vultures. Or gorgons."

"I don't think you need to worry about monsters inside the camp's boundaries," Daniel said with a smile, "though the vulture thing is probably accurate."

"No kidding. I'm sure there were a few campers just waiting for me to slip up so they could laugh."

"Laugh? At the great son of Jupiter, Hero of Olympus?" Dan chuckled at the thought, "Dude, I'm pretty sure just about everyone here reveres you."

"Yeah, well," Jason rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sure I stepped on some toes when I decided to juggle responsibilities to both camps, instead of choosing to settle down at one permanently. But forget about that, how's the new cabin?"

"It's pretty nice," Daniel admitted, despite his hangups with the exterior design, "we've got actual dressers now, so we don't have to keep all our stuff in bags. They're even enchanted to be bigger on the inside."

"No kidding?" Jason nodded approvingly, "I need to have a talk with the Hephaestus campers, or maybe the Athena cabin then. The coolest thing in my bunk is the ladder to the roof."

"You could always see if someone from Demeter would be willing to give you some plants. A ficus would be cool."

"Yeah," Jason didn't sound like he liked the idea, "but who's gonna water them when I'm in New Rome?"

Admittedly, Daniel didn't think about that. Nor did he have the time to come up with an answer, before Annabeth and Reyna called for everyone's attention. Dan looked around for a split second, and was surprised at how fast the other campers had made their exit. Jason stood back up, and the smaller group of demigods got into a circle, with the four completing it on the stage.

Percy was the first one to speak up, "so, with the Romans here, Chiron kind of wants us to include them in our daily camp activities."

"Kind of?" Annabeth echoed with a frown, "no Seaweed Brain, he was adamant about the idea."

Percy sighed, "look, my point is, we want the head counselors and centurions to join in and encourage everyone to… you know, do stuff together."

"A lot of us head counselors already teach classes, or supervise things like the climbing wall," Jason tried to elaborate, "but we want you guys to get involved with the more mundane activities like canoeing on the lake and-"

"Bro," Percy feigned being wounded, "did you just insult canoeing? Have you ever been on the lake? It's like, the most exciting part of being at camp!"

"You can talk to fish!" Jason exclaimed, "of course you think it's exciting! The rest of us can't just have a picnic at the bottom of the lake like you can!"

"Boys!" Annabeth's tone was enough to shut them both up, and she turned to face everyone else, "look, get the Greeks and Romans to cooperate and have fun together. This is about trying to help establish good relations between both camps."

Reyna nodded approvingly, and she turned to scan her centurions, "tell your cohorts to join in on some of the Greek's fighting exercises. While the way they fight might not be… uniform, they do excel in fighting on their lonesome. A Roman might not always have their cohort to back them up."

"Yeah," Percy agreed, "especially since quests can only be taken on in groups of three, unless you want to screw yourself."

One of the centurions below the stage, Daniel thought his name was Hank, spoke up, "I'm sure our campers won't mind taking some lessons, but they won't learn from just anybody."

"Well," Jason spoke up, "archery lessons are taught by Chiron himself, with help from Kayla from the Apollo cabin, so you shouldn't need to worry about that. Butch from the Iris cabin is the best equestrian we have, and that's including Percy over there, who can actually talk to horses."

A few of the centurions gawked at the idea of Percy talking to horses, and in the meanwhile, Percy himself grumbled about being considered second best. Butch looked a little smug.

"And, uh," Jason pointed a thumb at Daniel, who had to resist the urge to sigh, "Daniel here is from the new Boreas cabin we just built. He teaches most of the sword skill classes now."

Daniel eyed everyone with a bored expression (it was either do that, or the Romans might find out he was anxious about being the center of attention), as they all turned to look at him. Nobody looked all that impressed with him. Even Sherman, the buff head counselor of the Ares cabin, frowned at him. And then, as all Ares kids seemed to do, he opened his mouth to trash talk.

"Yeah, Dan is okay I guess, but he's no Ares kid."

That was all it took to make the Roman centurions, and worse, Reyna, frown at him.

"Hey," Dan was surprised to hear Will speak up for him, "Dan here is a better swordsman than anyone in the Ares cabin!"

A few of the other head counselors murmured in agreement, and Dan wanted to shout and stop them from propagating such a rumor. Because, it wasn't true. Sherman had bested him several times, both in the arena and during Capture the Flag, as had some other Ares kids like Clarisse. Dan wasn't the best at swordplay, he was just the only skilled swordsman that stayed at Camp Half-Blood full time that had the patience to teach it. In fact, Daniel would even go as far as to say that he was rusty now, compared to his skill level during the days of the Second Titan War.

Of course, now he couldn't say a word, or else he'd risk losing the respect of the Romans before he even had it. And, if he was being entirely honest, he really didn't want Reyna glaring at him anymore than she had when they'd locked eyes.

"Dan is a veteran from the Titan War," it was Percy who spoke up this time, "he helped us defend Manhattan from Kronos' forces. He's just as qualified to teach the class as any of us here."

Percy caught Dan's eyes with his own, and nodded at him. Dan nodded back, as a gesture of gratitude. Dan didn't like talking about the war with the Titans, or what had transpired when their forces besieged Manhattan, but he'd earned some respect that day. It was nice to know that someone appreciated him.

"Daniel was it?" It was Praetor Reyna who spoke to him this time, and Daniel nodded as confirmation, "if any of my legionaries make a fuss about learning from you, inform me or one of my centurions."

Her gaze was just as intimidating as it had been a few minutes before, but Dan forced himself not to look away from her dark eyes. If he wanted to earn respect from the Romans, it had to start here, with their leadership. If he couldn't make the praetor and her centurions respect him, then how was he supposed to make their legionaries respect him enough to learn from him?

"I appreciate the gesture," Daniel started, swallowing past his dry throat, "but if your legionnaires have a problem with learning from me, then they're welcome to spar with me. Once I've beaten them black and blue, I'm sure they'll be a little more open minded."

Daniel was in no way known for his gloating or boasting, evident by the looks on the faces of his fellow campers. The majority of them either gasped or had gaping mouths (even Nico looked surprised), while Annabeth and the Romans looked as if they were impressed by his words. He caught Percy, Sherman, and Jason smirking a little. Dan himself just felt a little silly.

"Bold choice of words," Reyna almost sounded like she was praising him, but her visage remained as neutral as ever, "are you sure you're not a Roman?"

Any tension that might have been in the air was lost in everyone's conjoined laughter.

Maybe, Daniel thought, the Romans being around wouldn't be so bad.


	3. Dan Screws Up

**Dan Screws Up**

 **Daniel**

As if it wasn't bad enough that Daniel was being forced to partake in Capture the Flag against the Romans, he had been assigned to the worst position possible: he was guarding the flag. It wouldn't have been a big deal really, were it not for the rules that governed every game of Capture the Flag. There were only allowed to be two guards protecting the flag, and they had to stand at least ten yards away from the flag, and each other. The Romans, on the other hand, could march up to the flag with as many legionaries as they wanted.

Daniel wasn't naive; he knew that he'd be seeing more than his fair share of Roman warriors by the night's end.

The only comforting thing about his role was that the flag had been well hidden. Dan and Will, who'd he been partnered with, were tucked neatly away in a particularly dense thicket of brush. The flag itself was quite visible, with its celestial bronze pole practically gleaming in the moonlight, and the blue flag billowing in the slight breeze. To get to the flag, however, the legionaries would have to push their way past a whole assortment of carefully placed bramble, while trying not to trip over the twisting roots of the oak trees that dominated the forest. And they had to do this while being decked in their armor.

Daniel and Will, on the other hand, were almost impossible to spot from a distance. Dan himself was belly down in a wild patch of tall grass, with his magical backpack strapped tightly to his leather breastplate. He had all sorts of little toys stuffed in there, including jars of Greek fire, given to him by the Hephaestus cabin before they started. On the other side of the flag, Will was hidden somewhere at the top of an oak tree, with his bow drawn. The lanky blonde might not have been the best archer in the Apollo cabin, but he was still leagues better with a bow than most demigods, and his vantage point combined with the element of surprise he possessed more than made up for the loss.

Aside from one noisy scout that had been dragged to the Greek jail by Katie Gardner, the night had been mostly quiet. Daniel allowed himself a few moment to wonder what his siblings might be up to. He knew that Lucile had been put on border patrol on the far West side of the forest, along with some of the Hermes campers, where she'd be mostly out of harm's way. Greg, on the other hand, Dan knew was with one of the teams crossing the river to retrieve the Roman flag. While he was a little worried about his brother, who wasn't much of a fighter by any means, he knew that Greg was crafty, and would likely avoid serious injury. This was a guy who had managed to make the Ares cabin go to war with themselves in the middle of a chariot race, after all.

Daniel's pondering was interrupted by the twang of a bowstring being pulled. His breath hitched in his throat, and Daniel tried to scan the thicket with his eyes, but the grass he was hiding in obscured most of his view. He strained his ears, as best he could, but still heard nothing. He resumed breathing, and knew that he would just have to trust Will to deal with whoever had come near the flag. Annabeth had made it very clear that Dan was not to give away his hiding spot unless he absolutely had to, and those who didn't listen to the children of Athena generally ended up screwing up in these scenarios.

He heard the crack of Will's bowstring, as well as the whistling sound the blunted arrow made as it tore through the air. A distinct thump, followed by a groan, came from the bushes that Dan knew were on his side of the thicket. With his left hand, Daniel slowly reached for his backpack's side pocket, while the other gripped the handle of his sword. Will's bowstring snapped twice more, but was only followed by the sound of a single arrow embedding itself in a tree. That was a signal they'd agreed on before the start of the game. Daniel's hand flashed from his left pocket, with a metal sphere in his hand. He tried to approximate where the arrow struck as best he could, and chucked the bronze sphere in that direction.

Daniel was rewarded by the sound of an explosion, followed by the hissing of the gas within the sphere being released. He heard a few shouts, followed by the scraping of metal against metal, before it all ended with the _thumping_ of Romans dropping to the ground. Dan allowed himself a smile; the sleep gas grenade had actually worked.

His relief was short lived, however, as war cries echoed throughout the forest, and Romans came tearing through the trees, with the shields up and gladiuses leveled to strike.

Gritting his teeth, and knowing that hiding was pointless now, Daniel sprung up from his hiding position and brandished his sword. His eyes widened once he saw the numbers he was dealing with. Ten Roman legionaries rounded on him, having either heard him or seen him as he emerged from the grass. The closed their ranks, shield to shield, and began to advance on him. Dan reached into his backpack with his offhand, and pulled out a tiny glass vial of Greek fire. He threw it at their line, just as Will began to let his arrows loose on the Romans.

The vial cracked open, and green fire erupted from within. The Romans in the center of the line fell back onto their butts, and began desperately hacking at the straps that kept their Imperial gold shields bound to their arms. A few of the Romans turned as Will's arrows brought two more down, and Daniel took advantage of their lack of perception. He rounded on the legionnaire closest to him, and brought the coin shaped pommel on his sword down onto her helmet. The helmet rung like a bell, and Dan knocked her to the ground with an elbow to the nose.

One Roman tried to run up on Dan from his right, only to catch a blunted arrow to the forehead, and lose his footing. While he was on the ground, Daniel busied himself with parrying the precise jabs from another Roman's gladius. The girl attacking him threw her shield arm forward, as if to bunt him. Daniel took a quick step back, before jamming his pommel past the lip of her shield, and pulling back with all his might. The girl's arm was tugged in his direction, and she stumbled with the extra weight of her armor. Dan simply kicked one foot out from under her, and she went tumbling to the ground.

He spun around to face down yet another legionnaire, just to find the rest of the group groaning on the ground, with blunted arrows lying nearby. Dan let out a sigh, as he tried to calm his racing heart. They worked pretty well together. They might even have a shot at protecting the flag! He looked up at the tree he knew Will was in, and flashed a thumbs up.

"Third tree to the right of the flag! Archers, fire!"

Dan's heart, which was still racing, stopped completely. The voice, one he recognized, rang out from his right. There was nothing but silence for a half a second, before the biggest hail of arrows that Dan had ever witnessed sprouted from the foliage, and rained down on Will's tree. The mere sound of the volley was loud enough to be heard from the river, and though Dan watched in horror as Will fell out of the tree and landed on his arm, he couldn't actually hear the impact, nor the break of the bone.

Daniel didn't have time to agonize over his foolish mistake.

The Romans sprinted out of the brush, not unlike their downed companions had, but this time Dan was facing them alone. They brandished their gladiuses, all of them prepared to strike at him at once if they had to. Daniel swallowed nervously and turned to face them. He held his blade out in front of him, prepared to at least take down one of them before he got trampled.

"Wait!" A voice called, and if Daniel had mistaken it before, he certainly didn't now.

The Praetor of New Rome emerged from the brush, a bit farther down on his left now, backed by yet another line of legionnaires. How had so many of them gotten past their defenses? Daniel had never heard the clanging of metal on metal that always signified a battle breaking out. Did all these legionnaires actually sneak past their forces?

Two metal greyhounds, one gold and one silver, trailed Reyna as she came out of the brush. Despite the situation he was in, Daniel found himself perplexed. She had metal dogs too? Dan shook his head, and brought his eyes up to look at the Roman Praetor. Unsurprisingly, she had been staring at him.

"It's just you. Will Solace is face down in the dirt with a broken arm. You'll lower your weapon and allow us to take the flag. Then you'll be free to take Will to Chiron."

It wasn't a request, or an offer. She was ordering him to stand down, like he was one of her legionnaires. Irritation lanced through him, and it must have shown on his face, because Reyna frowned.

"Before you do something stupid, take a look at your friend," she gestured towards Will with her hand, the one that wasn't gripping an Imperial gold spear.

Dan turned his head to look at his partner, who, as described, was face down in the dirt. He was unconscious, and his arm was bent under him at an unnatural angle. Dan knew that he really _should_ listen to Reyna. Not only did Will have a broken arm, but even if he hadn't been seriously injured, there was no way Daniel could take on Reyna and all these other Romans by himself. Heck, he couldn't have taken them even if Will was still backing him up.

But, no one had ever lost a game of Capture the Flag because they'd voluntarily given the flag up. If Dan complied, he'd be the first. That kind of stuff went down in history at Camp Half-Blood

Daniel groaned. He'd made his decision.

"Look, I'd love nothing more than to just give up and let you win," Daniel began, earning a few disgusted scoffs from the Roman ranks, "but unfortunately for me, I don't subscribe to cowardice."

He turned his head away from Reyna, and looked at the line of legionnaires in front of him. He drew in a breath, and held it in his lungs. He felt the slight breeze of the night caress his face, filling him with energy. Then, with an exhale, he was off.

Daniel barreled into the shield of a legionnaire at unparalleled speeds, knocking him off of his feet in surprise. Then, while that legionnaire was still falling over, Daniel turned to the guy on his left, and brought the tip of his blade up his side, cutting through the straps of his armor. The backplate began to fall away, and Dan slammed his pommel into the guy's spine. He began to fall forward. The first legionnaire's butt had just now hit the ground, and Dan dashed forward, decimating the rest of the Roman line too quickly for them to react. Some of the legionnaires he tripped with his blade, others he smashed at the base of the neck with his pommel.

Everytime he rounded on someone to strike at them, they were just starting to react to the falling of the legionnaire twice prior to them. By the time a soldier could widen their eyes and observe the legionnaire two people down from them topple, Dan had already put their own toppling into motion. He was quick, and almost unobservable. He was the wind.

By the time Dan had finished decimating the first line of Romans, a mere four seconds had passed. Dan stopped, standing on legs shaking from exertion, and gasped for air. He leveled his gaze at Reyna and the remaining line of Romans behind her. The Praetor herself looked surprised, but that was the most Daniel could gleam from her expression. The soldiers at her back, however, were much easier to read. They were startled.

"A son of Jupiter! He has to be a son of Jupiter!"

"No, he's a son of Mercury! Winged shoes, the whole speed thing? It makes more sense that way."

The whole cluster of Romans, minus their praetor, began to throw around theories and accusations as to who Dan's godly sire was. Reyna put a quick end to their guess work.

"He's a child of Boreas, the Greek counterpart of Aquilon."

Silence permeated the forest for a second, then, "but he's just a Minor God!"

The boy that spoke stood to Reyna's left, which put him between Daniel and the Praetor herself. Dan struck at him first. His eyes widened as he saw him begin to move, and he motioned to raise his shield, but Daniel was already on him. He ripped the guy's helmet clean off, and elbowed him furiously in the back of the head. The man fell forward, clearly out for the count.

Dan felt his speed begin to leave his body; he'd pushed his demigod powers too far. Knowing he only had a few seconds left, the son of Boreas struck at the Roman Praetor. At this point, taking her out wouldn't change anything; the Romans had already won this game. But that one Roman guy had ticked him off. Dan was gonna show the everyone just what the son of a 'Minor God' could do, and what better way to demonstrate his prowess than by taking out their leader?

His plan and bravado were short lived, however, as Reyna caught his blade on the butt of her spear. Dan's eyes widened. When had she turned to face him? She pushed him back with a shove, and twirled her spear before lunging at him. Dan parried it to his left, and quickly moved past the tip of the weapon, as to void its effective range. He jabbed at the praetor's left shoulder, only to be surprised once more when she knocked his blow aside with an Imperial gold gladius.

Where did she get a gladius? _When_ did she get a gladiu- Daniel's eyes widened, as he noticed the lack of a spear in Reyna's hand. The gladius was the spear. The spear was the gladius.

Her weapon could transform. And now, after Daniel had closed the distance between them, Reyna had the advantage with her shorter blade that was meant for stabbing.

It was a fact that Daniel didn't have time to process, as his focus was redirected to parrying the lightning fast thrusts Reyna sent his way. The first three he managed to parry entirely, but then the rest of his speed began to drain away. Dan managed to knock the fourth thrust away from his chest, but it still lacerated his arm. The fifth and sixth stabs had similar results.

With one last burst of speed, Daniel managed to catch the tip of Reyna's gladius on the flat of his pommel, and he pushed her away from him. He struck down at the Roman with an overhead blow, but with his speed having evaporated, he wasn't a match for the praetor. She side stepped the swing with ridiculous ease, before smacking the flat of her blade against Dan's forehead. Out of speed, and out of breath, Dan collapsed onto his back.

The Romans cheered for their Praetor, but Dan could barely hear it.

He saw Reyna stand over him, with a frown on her face. She said something, but the words didn't reach his ears.

His vision went black.


	4. Reyna Gets Hit On By A God

**Reyna Gets Hit On By A God**

 **Reyna**

What happened to the Greek campers injured during Capture the Flag really wasn't Reyna's problem. The Greeks had the means to treat their own demigods, and Reyna had plenty of her own legionnaires to worry about. One of her centurions had lost an arm, which had to be reattached, and after the debacle near the Greek flag last night, there were about twelve legionnaires with concussions. And those were just some of her problems; even across the nation, Reyna was still the praetor of New Rome, and had a pile of work to prove it.

She didn't have time to check up on the Greeks in their infirmary.

And yet here she was, standing outside the door right after dinner, hand on the knob. Reyna wasn't much of a touchy-feely kind of person, but she did care quite a bit about Nico, and his boyfriend had broken an arm falling out of that tree last night. So she supposed checking up on Will was the right thing to do, even if the ambrosia he had certainly eaten should have completely mended his bone by now. Either way, she would make the visit short. She wasn't exactly one for small talk.

Letting out a breath, Reyna turned the knob and swung the door open. The first thing she was greeted by was the smell of some sort of cleaner, followed by the dim lighting from the uncovered bulbs that hung from the roof. The infirmary itself wasn't all that impressive; it was just the backroom of the Big House filled with cots pushed against the walls. There were a few campers lying in them, but only one demigod was actually up and moving around.

Reyna had expected Will to at least be taking it easy; she thought she'd find him lying in a bed, or at least reclining in some sort of chair, but it seemed the son of Apollo had other things to do. Will was scurrying from one patient to the next, with a canteen of nectar in his good hand. The arm he had landed on was wrapped up in a sling, but it lacked a splint or proper cast. The lanky blonde ran toward one end of the room, entirely unaware that Reyna had entered, before spinning back around and running back to where he had come from.

Reyna cleared her throat. Will, who had turned back around yet again, came to a halt right in front of the door, his shoes literally sliding over the wood. He turned to face her, eyes widened in surprise.

"Reyna! I mean- Praetor! What can I do for you?" Will spoke in huffs of breath.

Will's hair was disheveled, with wispy strands of it clinging to sweat rolling down his face. His clothes seemed even more so, as if he had slept in them before rolling out of bed and getting to work. Reyna furrowed her brow. Didn't he have help around here? There was a whole cabin dedicated to the God of healing, so what were they all doing?

"I came to check on you," Reyna started, scrutinizing his condition even further, "you broke your arm last night. Clearly you're fine, if you're running around like a fury out of Tartarus. Don't you have any help in here?"

"Oh," Will blinked, halting his speech, before continuing, "yeah, my siblings and Chiron were in here earlier, but I let them go to dinner. I've pretty much got it covered from here."

Reyna just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well," he started sheepishly, "maybe there's a little more to be done than I thought, but I'm almost through here. I've just gotta check on Daniel."

Hearing that name surprised Reyna. Sure, she'd watched the demigod blackout after what she assumed was Daniel overusing his powers, but she hadn't expected him to still be unconscious. She mutely followed Will over to the bed in the far left corner, where sure enough, the brown haired swordsman lay unmoving. Will held his canteen to the boy's lips, and carefully dribbled some nectar into his mouth. It was only after Will had moved away to store the canteen, that Reyna noticed just how pale the son of Boreas was. He looked almost sickly.

Will must have seen the look of surprise on her face, because he spoke up, "yeah, he's uh, not in the greatest condition right now."

"I figured he blacked out from overusing his powers," Reyna forced her face to return to its stoic norm, "but how is he still unconscious?"

"I'm not sure, to be entirely honest. I've seen plenty of demigods blackout before, but never…"

Will trailed off awkwardly, and Reyna finished for him, "never the child of a Minor God."

"Yeah," Will sighed, "I, uh, didn't want to say it. Dan doesn't like to be reminded. I wish someone would tell me what happened. I woke up and all Austin told me was 'power strain blackout.' No details whatsoever."

"I think I can help with that," Reyna offered, and when Will looked at her with a surprised expression on his face, she elaborated, "you didn't get to see my face before you fell out of that tree, but I was the one who ordered the archers to fire on you. Sorry about the arm."

Will waved her off, "all's fair in Capture the Flag. Besides, I'll be as good as new by tomorrow. What about Dan though? What did he do?"

Reyna allowed herself a small scoff, "what did he do? He decimated a shield wall of my legionnaires, in about three seconds flat. We couldn't even keep track of his movements, until he wore himself out."

"How many?"

"Ten, no," Reyna corrected herself, remembering him ripping off Jorge's helmet, "eleven counting Jorge, and then he moved onto me."

"Eleven?! He took out eleven demigods?" Will's shout echoed through the room, earning a few groans from some of the other demigods trying to rest.

"And a half. We fought for a little while, before he finally reached his limit."

"That doesn't even make sense! How did he take out eleven demigods on his own?"

"I told you," Reyna said with a frown, "he was fast, much faster than any demigod I've ever seen."

Will still didn't seem to comprehend the number, but he let out a sigh, "well, if anyone else had told me that, I would have checked them in to make sure they weren't hallucinating. I've never seen Dan pull off anything out of the ordinary."

"I was surprised myself. There are a few legacies of Aquillon in the Twelfth Legion, but I've never seen them demonstrate any sort of powers connected to his domain."

"Well, Boreas does pull Zeus's chariot, and he's known to be associated with horses. It makes sense that Dan would be able to speed himself up temporarily," Will frowned, "but Boreas is actually the God of the Northern Wind and Winter. Did he manipulate the wind at all during your fight?"

"No," Reyna stated, "there wasn't any ice or snow involved either. Just speed."

Will's frown didn't leave his face, "weird. I'll have to ask him some questions when he finally wakes up."

"Nothing you can do now then," Reyna grabbed Will lightly by the shoulder, "come on. You Greeks can't have a campfire singalong without all the Apollo kids present."

"Yeah, I just need to tidy some things up first, go on without me."

Reyna decided not to tell Will that she hadn't planned to wait on him anyhow. Nor did she tell him that she wasn't even going to the singalong. She still had a stack of paperwork waiting for her back in her tent. And, likely, she could expect and Iris Message (she still hated those) from Frank later on. Hopefully she'd get lucky and he wouldn't IM her while she was in the shower again.

Reyna walked back out into the brisk East Coast air. She grabbed the edge of her purple cloak; of her piece of Aegis, granted to her by Athena, and pulled it around her body. It did its job and warmed her up, but not by much. How the Greek demigods could deal with this cold Winter every year, she didn't know.

Not that she was complaining, of course. Romans didn't complain.

The walk back to her tent wouldn't take her long; no more than five minutes. She hoped that she could avoid being spotted by any other demigods. If she was invited to the campfire, it would be rude to refuse, and though she had things to do, Reyna wasn't willing to upset any of the Greek campers if she could help it. They may have signed a treaty for peace, but the peace was still a little fragile. Reyna assumed that it was natural; after all, the Greeks had destroyed half of the Senate building, and the Romans had fired on Camp Half-Blood with onagers.

Unfortunately for Reyna, Piper and Jason had caught sight of her as she tried to sneak past the campfire using the shadows of the cabins. She resigned herself to the singalongs with a sigh, and slipped into the massive crowd of demigods around the fire. Reyna pushed her way to the front of the crowd, where she stood with a few of the soldiers from her cohort.

The Apollo kids were currently leading everyone in a song about Hercules slaying the Nemean Lion. Despite not having the greatest singing voice, and not really knowing the words, Reyna sang along with the Greeks and Romans. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will finagle his way to his brothers and sisters, and joined in the singing.

Reyna had to admit, it was nice to be able to take a break from all the duties of praetorship, and join her family in enjoying a beautiful night. It was something she rarely had the chance to do, even now that she had Frank to pick up the other half of her job. With the expansion of UC Berkeley, (which was actually a college for Roman, and now Greek, demigods) the still ongoing election of a new augur, and the fact that neither the Romans or Greeks had any access to prophecies, most of Reyna's time was spent either in the Senate building or at her desk.

It only made sense, then, that the one night she might have enjoyed was interrupted.

As soon as the last demigod voices died out, and the Apollo campers prepared to start the next song, the bonfire everyone stood around burst up in a mighty wall of flame. Roman and greek demigods alike leaped backwards, grabbing for any weapons they had on hand. Reyna herself had her gladius in one hand, and her knife in the other. They waited for a moment, tense, until someone literally walked out of the fire.

"Woah! That is some hot stuff! Not my thing!"

The man that had stepped out of the fire stood out to say the least. He looked like some pop idol from the eighties, with a shirt unbuttoned too low and a bad case of acne sprouting on his cheeks. It was just a suspicion, but from the way he towered over everyone, and held himself up with his shoulders firmly set, Reyna guessed he was some kind of God.

That, and he kind of looked like a young David Bowie.

"Hey, yo, what's crackin'! No, not crackin'. Too lame," the God tutted.

"Zethes?!" That voice was Piper's, and Reyna looked over to see the cherokee demigod gawk at the newcomer.

"Piper! It's been, what, a year? You look ravishing as always, why don't we elope to France together? I hear Paris is beautiful this time of year."

"Uh, no, still have a boyfriend," she sounded a little disgusted.

"Yeah, hi, I'm the boyfriend," came Jason, and Reyna might have snorted were it not for the situation.

On the other side of the fire, she could hear Percy trying not to laugh.

"Shame then," Zethes sighed, "guess this visit is all business then."

He clapped his hands, and a cold breeze billowed through the camp, making everyone shiver. The bonfire around them started to die out, but only just enough to where the light didn't blind everyone.

"Alright, well, I'll get to it! Has anyone seen my old man around here?"

No one spoke.

"He's about this tall," Zethes held a hand just slightly above his head, "has dark purple wings, and a beard made of ice? No one?"

"Um," a meek voice broke the silence, and Reyna turned to see a girl no older than thirteen, with eyes as bright as the sky speaking, "who are you exactly?"

Reyna could feel herself pale, and behind her she heard a demigod suck in a breath past their teeth.

"WHAT?!" Zethes shrieked, and the girl shrunk into herself, "how do you not know who I am? We're related for Zeus's sake! I am Zethes, first born of Boreas, God of the Northern Wind and Winter! I'm your big brother!"

"Oh," was all he got in reply. Zethes smacked a palm to his face.

"I swear, no one does their homework these days," he mumbled, "I mean, come on, we even have the same eyes…"

Zethes trailed off for a few seconds, muttering to himself. Reyna, against her better judgement, decided to break the silence.

"Lord Zethes, what is this about your father missing?"

"Ah!" Zethes snapped up, and with two broad strides, was standing in front of her, "thank you! Right to the point, I appreciate that! Daughter of Bellona? Yeah, I can always tell with you Romans. You know, you're not too bad looking yourself. Ever been to Quebec? Montreal has some great places for poutine."

Reyna clenched her teeth, and willed herself not to punch the God right in the jaw. It wouldn't do well for morale if she were to be vaporized where she was standing.

"Can't say I have, my lord," she forced a smile.

"Great, good, you're the first pick then!" He turned to face the rest of the campers, "so, who wants to be demigod number two then?"

"Pick for what, exactly?" Reyna questioned the God, prompting him to turn back to face her.

"Well for the quest, of course!"

"Quest?" She echoed.

"Well yeah, that's what you demigods are for right? To go on quests when the Gods screw something up? Because, let me tell you, if my old man isn't found soon, it won't be pretty. Without someone to control the Northern winds, they'll just blow and blow and blow until they knock everything in the Northern hemisphere over! We're talking tornadoes in every major city! Now, I don't really care all that much, but I bet you mortals do!"

Reyna opened her mouth to speak, but her voice faltered. Tornadoes in every city in the Northern hemisphere? Half the world would be destroyed if that happened. She grit her teeth. That level of destruction was unfounded.

"So, second taker, anyone? Ooh I know, what about a Greek this time?! Uh, let's see," Zethes scanned the orange shirts in the crowd, before his eyes settled on Will and the Apollo campers, "you! What's your name kid?"

"Will Solace," Will swallowed, "son of Apollo."

"Oh, I heard about all that stuff that went down with your dad a few months back. That's gotta be rough. But look on the bright side, if you and the hot Hispanic girl over there fail, then you won't have to worry about who pulls the Sun chariot!"

Reyna's grip tightened around her blades. She didn't let it show on her face, not in front of all her legionnaires, but she would have loved nothing more than to pummel this God.

"Okay, uh, standard number of demigods on quests is three, right kid?"

Will nodded.

"Alright! Let's see who gets to be lucky number thr- Oh wait! I almost forgot! If you're gonna go on a quest to find my dad, then I guess I should send one of my siblings with you!"

Zethes turned his head back to the little girl he'd spoken to at first, and Reyna felt her eyes widen. The way the girl stared back meekly at her Godly brother, told Reyna that she hadn't been around here for long. She'd be useless on a quest, and Reyna wasn't about to let a little girl get killed.

"Yo, little sis! How about it?!"

"Lord Zethes-" Reyna tried.

"Not a chance!"

The new voice sounded hoarse and weak, and Reyna turned her head to see that Dan, the son of Boreas she'd fought with the night before, was standing right next to her. His hair was disheveled and stuck up at random angles, and his eyes looked weary. His skin tone was just as pale as it had been when she'd visited the infirmary.

"Woah," Zethes turned to face them once more, "you can't just interrupt a guy like that little bro! I'm trying to find people to take on a quest!"

"You're not sending her," despite looking half dead, Daniel's voice had a bite to it, and Reyna found herself a little impressed with the Greek's boldness, "if you want a child of Boreas to go, either go yourself or I will."

The camp, which had broken out in hushed whispers, immediately went silent. Reyna grimaced and waited for Zethes to smite his own brother.

"Whoa-ho, little bro, you've got some stones," to Reyna's surprise, Zethes was _smiling,_ "alright, tell you what, you can go. But not like that. You look like you want to fall over."

Zethes raised a finger, and placed it on Dan's brow, who looked a little taken aback. Then there was another gust of wind, much colder this time, and it blew right past her, chilling her to the bone. Dan gasped beside her, and his azure eyes began to glow for a brief second, before dulling back to their normal color.

"There we go, how do you feel?"

Reyna watched as Dan blinked, and began to pat down his body. With surprise, Reyna noticed that his skin had returned to a normal shade of peach, and the air around him (and by proximity, around her as well) seemed to hum with energy.

"I feel… Great. Better than I have in a while."

Zethes nodded, "you looked a little worn out, so I gave you a little more access to the old man's domain. With him gone, someone has to pick up the slack, and it's not gonna be me. Try not to overdo it with your powers, unless you want to kill yourself."

"Uh, okay. Will do, er, won't do. I mean, you know what I-"

"Yes, yes, you mortals are always so bad with words. Anyways! I think that about does it! Hottie," Zethes pointed at Renya, "blondie," then to Will, "and dummy," he pointed at Dan, who frowned at the nickname, "you guys are gonna go to my dad's crib in Montreal, and pick up his trail from there! You've got, oh I don't know, roughly three months to find him? Plenty of time! More than you demigods are usually given. Oh! Make sure to stop by my sister's place in Quebec City too!"

Dan and Will just nodded slowly, but Reyna opened her mouth to speak, "Lord Zethes, you haven't told us where in Montreal your father's palace is."

But Zethes didn't hear her, "oh wait! You guys like riddles and limricks, don't you? Give me a second, I'm not Apollo, but I think I can come up with one!

Reyna opened her mouth to try again, but Zethes cut her off with a musical tone.

"To the North you shall go, seeking the Wind,

Arriving in cold, you shall force Winter to abscind,

The Blood of Boreas, you must defend,

And it is there, that the hero will meet his end."

No one said a word; no one dared to. Even Reyna found herself a bit startled, with Zethes all but saying that one of the two boys on the quest would die. No, she reasoned with herself, looking over at Will and Dan, who had both gone pale. No, quests and prophecies were tricky things, that usually had some sort of double meaning.

Not to mention that Zethes did not have the power of prophecy. There was a good chance his words were empty. Regardless, Reyna wouldn't let someone die on a quest she was chosen to lead.

"Alright, well, if that'll be all, I'll be off!"

With a snap of his finger, Zethes surrounded himself in billowing winds, and took off into the sky. Reyna shook her head, and looked between the two boys she was now fated to travel to Quebec with.

"Big House, at seven tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

And she turned to head for her tent.


End file.
